Russell Simmons Biography

Big Payback Notes • Early conﬂict in the the ﬁscal underpinnings of hiphop. There was signiﬁcant backlash from urban purists (essentially those living and breathing hiphop’s four elements by DJing, MCing, breakdancing, and grafﬁti tagging in its raw street setting) who disliked the commerical sensibiltiies of the Sugar Hill Gang and the mercenary attitudes of rap’s ﬁrst music label Sugar Hill Records. Term “hiphop” begot cultural factions between those who saw themselves as lubricant partygoers (the Sugar Hill Gang and Joe and Sylvia Robinson) and others who saw themselves as serious artists (Kool Herc hiphop’s sole originator and rising phenom Joey “Run DMC” Simmons). • Rock & Roll proved that the music, the fashion, and the energy could be more than just an ephemeral craze and in fact it could be good business • Simmons: rap shouldn’t be like disco, rap should be like itself. hated the uptown and Bronx’ fanciful aesthetic, the magical costumes worn by Grandmaster Flash and the. • represented a handful of rap clients spread out among several record labels: Kurtis Blow on Mercury, Jimmy Spicer on Spring, Whodini on Jive and Run DM • Luckily bonded and won over Bill Adler, who was taken by Simmons’ blazing charisma and got him on 20/20 and ended up knowing about “Fresh Festival” • spokeout against bald-faced segregationwhere thenetwork was founded bymen who came out of 1970s radio and had been casually jettisoned from FM stations with the rational that the broadcaster’s White male targer audience didn’t like soul and funk music • “Rock Box” in 1984 becomes ﬁrst video by a rap group to air on Music televition and Run DMC headlines ﬁrst national rap tour fresh fest • making “the blackest record ever” - transcended poilar approach...ampliﬁed actually helped not hurted?2 • within 1985 Def Jam inspired a major motion picture and landed multi-million dollar productiondeal with prestegious rocrd conglomerate • meg cox wall street journal article, originally coined him...

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RussellSimmons: An Entrepreneurial Icon that Shifted American Culture
Florida State College at Jacksonville
“If you aren't passionate about a vision, it's hard to have faith in it” (Simmons & Morrow, Do You!: 12 Laws to Access the Power in You to Achieve Happiness and Success, 2008). Russell Wendell Simmons’ passion for his vision is what drove him when he started in the music business over three decades ago. Simmons, the original hip-hop mogul, is one of the most innovative and influential figures in modern American business and culture. When no one outside of inner-city New York had even heard of hip-hop, Simmons saw the seeds of a global force that would change the way people talk, dress, listen to music, and choose the heroes they hung on their walls. Simmons is the founder or co-founder of numerous successful companies and philanthropic organizations, including Def Jam Records, Phat Farm clothing, the dRush Advertising Agency, and Rush Philanthropic (Reingold, 2003). At the same time he has broadened his interests and influence and pushed hip-hop to new plateaus of power. Russell Simons has become an inspiration to young entrepreneurs everywhere, particularly in the African American community, because of his phenomenal impact on the American music, comedy, and fashion industry.
Russell...

...Best friend (who also served as maid of honor at Kimora's wedding) is model/actress Tyra Banks.
She has two daughters, Ming Lee Simmons (born January 21, 2000) and Aoki Lee Simmons (born in 2002). Both are models for Baby Phat Clothing.
Ex-daughter-in-law of Daniel Simmons; ex-sister-in-law of Joseph Simmons and Daniel J. Simmons.
Kimora is half African-American, one quarter Korean and one quarter Japanese. Father Vernon Whitlock Jr is African-American and mother Joanne Kyoko Perkins is half Korean, half Japanese.
Is a client of nutritionist-to-the-stars, Oz Garcia.
Cites Red Lobster Restaurants the favorite eatery of her childhood.
Her mother, Kyoko Perkins, is a former Social Security Administrator.
Growing up in St. Louis, Missouri, other children called her "Chinky giraffe" because of her height and Asian ethnic ancestry.
At fifteen, before she had her driver's license, she bought herself a secondhand BMW drop-top. She got into a car accident and had to have 40 stitches in her face.
Daughter of Vernon Whitlock Jr., who is black, and his wife, Joanne Perkins, who is half Korean, half Japanese.
RussellSimmons, whom she later married, sent bouquets of flowers to her agency to woo her. The bouquets were so large and heavy that they required two men to move them.
At thirteen, she had an exclusive contract modeling for Coco Chanel.
She and...

...Combs's company, Sean John, has about $400 million of that business, most of it from urban styles like baggy, crotch-at-the knee trousers, conspicuously branded T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts, or "hoodies." But Mr. Combs, who sometimes goes by the rapper name P. Diddy but is known to associates as Puffy, is looking to expand well beyond the urban niche.
A stack of other rap and rhythm-and-blues celebrities from Snoop Dogg to Beyoncé have decided they have the style to create clothes, but Mr. Combs is the one who analysts say has the best chance of making the transition to the mainstream.
That could be particularly lucrative for Mr. Combs, who, unlike most of his competitors, has maintained control of his company. (By contrast, RussellSimmons, another rap impresario, sold his Phat Fashions to Kellwood, a giant clothing producer, for $140 million last year.)
"Sean John felt he has the heft to go it alone," said Eric M. Beder, an analyst at Brean Murray & Company, a New York investment bank.
Going it alone, though, will mean having to tackle some serious problems, starting with two years of more or less flat sales and a net loss last year. That is compounded by signs that the urbanwear trend is past its peak, and by basic business problems like disorganized distribution. Then there are the distractions inherent in being part of an informal miniconglomerate that has at times included businesses as diverse as music publishing and...

...CASE PROBLEM: RUSSELLSIMMONS, THE CEO OF HIP-HOP
1. A leader is someone that influences and inspires others. Somebody who is innovative has the ability and capacity to create new ways of doing something. RussellSimmons qualifies as an innovative leader for his contribution to the Hip-Hop industry. He is a pioneer because he was the first person with a vision for the Hip-Hop culture. He turned this culture into a massive and global business. He understood the potential of the unloved Afro-American culture and created a business model around it, attracting different types of actors from fashion to banks, beverages and many others. Today RussellSimmons is followed by entrepreneurs in this juicy business and influences not only corporates but also the youth generation by driving spending to the Hip-Hop Industry.
2. I would attribute RussellSimmons’ position mainly to personality traits, charismatic and transformational leadership. Charisma is something that you can not easily discribe, but you can feel it for sure when someone has this quality. It can be characterized by a powerful charm and magnetism to influence others in a personal manner. That is exactly what we can observe in Simmons’ case. Being an executive of a big company his doors are always open for everybody: business people, employees and friends. He is a welcoming person. Hip-hop...

...CASE PROBLEM: RUSSELLSIMMONS, THE CEO OF HIP-HOP
1. A leader is someone that influences and inspires others. Somebody who is innovative has the ability and capacity to create new ways of doing something. RussellSimmons qualifies as an innovative leader for his contribution to the Hip-Hop industry. He is a pioneer because he was the first person with a vision for the Hip-Hop culture. He turned this culture into a massive and global business. He understood the potential of the unloved Afro-American culture and created a business model around it, attracting different types of actors from fashion to banks, beverages and many others. Today RussellSimmons is followed by entrepreneurs in this juicy business and influences not only corporates but also the youth generation by driving spending to the Hip-Hop Industry.
2. I would attribute RussellSimmons’ position mainly to personality traits, charismatic and transformational leadership. Charisma is something that you can not easily discribe, but you can feel it for sure when someone has this quality. It can be characterized by a powerful charm and magnetism to influence others in a personal manner. That is exactly what we can observe in Simmons’ case. Being an executive of a big company his doors are always open for everybody: business people, employees and friends. He is a welcoming person. Hip-hop...

...Small Group Communication
CSU East Bay
Instructor: D. Kandy Simmons Email: Doreen.simmons@csueastbay.edu
COMM 3510 Small Group Communication Office Hours: Tu: 3:30-4 Th 11:30-12
Summer 2013 – TuTh 12-3:30 Room 2038 Office: MI 2008
Phone: 925-726-9178 cell; 510-885-4126 Office
Course Description
This course covers the principles and methods of goal-oriented small group creative problem-solving situations. Subject areas include small group communication theory, group formation , meeting management, relating to others, collaborating, problem-solving and decision-making, enhancing creativity, team building, managing conflict and leadership. Application of theories and concepts to real life situations and practical application are emphasized
Student Learning Outcomes
1. Apply small group communication theory in the process of human communication in the small group context.
2. Demonstrate competence in solving problems in task-oriented groups as both a leader and a participant.
3. Demonstrate personal and interpersonal skills in dealing with people and conflict in all types of groups in a variety of situations.
4. Explain various leadership styles and group roles.
5. Analyze the effectiveness of a small group meeting and decision making.
6. Complete a successful work team project applying both written, oral and small group skills.
Teaching and Learning Methods
• Textbook reading and writing assignments
• Short...

...William Wordsworth (1770-1850), an early leader of romanticism in English poetry, ranks as one of the greatest lyric poets in the history of English literature.
William Wordsworth was born in Cookermouth, Cumberland, on April 7, 1770, the second child of an attorney. Unlike the other major English romantic poets, he enjoyed a happy childhood under the loving care of his mother and in close intimacy with his younger sister Dorothy (1771-1855). As a child, he wandered exuberantly through the lovely natural scenery of Cumberland. At Hawkshead Grammar School, Wordsworth showed keen and precociously discriminating interest in poetry. He was fascinated by "the divine John Milton," impressed by George Crabbe's descriptions of poverty, and repelled by the "falsehood" and "spurious imagery" in Ossian's nature poetry.
From 1787 to 1790 Wordsworth attended St. John's College, Cambridge, always returning with breathless delight to the north and to nature during his summer vacations. Before graduating from Cambridge, he took a walking tour through France, Switzerland, and Italy in 1790. The Alps gave him an ecstatic impression that he was not to recognize until 14 years later as a mystical "sense of usurpation, when the light of sense/ Goes out, but with a flash that has revealed/ The invisible world"--the world of "infinitude" that is "our beings's heart and home."
Sojourn in France
Revolutionary fervor in France made a powerful impact on the young idealist, who returned...

...Mini Biography on Destery Smith (Moore)
Destery Smith (aka Destery Moore) was born on February 19, 1991 in Bakersfield CA. From a
young age Destery aspired to be a director in films and now at age 21 he has truly made a
name for himself. He has a love for music, video games, making his own video's, DJing, and
making techno music and with his love for all of these things, he has become famous. He
makes youtube videos with his best friend on a channel called DesandNate where they talk
about anything and everything. It shows their awkward and hilarious sense of humor. He also
has his own channel called CapnDesDes where he does almost the same thing but also adds
a show called proper perversions. If you find yourself looking for an inappropriate laugh,
looking at this show would be wise. These channels have brought him over a million
subscribers and over 93 million youtube video views. He also has a gaming channel called
DesPwns. Somehow with all of this he still has time to create wonderful music and even has a
music single out called Caves of Ice, released on itunes. He has had concerts, DJ’d at
different places, and been invited to many different youtube events. here is a video of him
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http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dd
JOCwcmjTmI&h=KAQEXFtAc​
And here’s a lionk to his music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXVaXniOMtE
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